Sweeping Labor Law Overhaul Package Introduced by Senate GOP

A sweeping slate of bills released Monday by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) would fundamentally change the last eight decades of US labor law.

The bulk of the measures target the National Labor Relations Board, union elections and decertifications, and unfair labor practices.

Other bills in the package would make it an unfair labor practice to hire undocumented immigrants, would protect workers’ personal data, and would prevent harassment on picket lines. Those were introduced by Republican Sens. Jim Banks (Ind.), Tim Scott (S.C.), and Tommy Tuberville (Ala.).

Cassidy, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said he knows he needs Democrats for the plan to be viable, and is confident he can bring both sides together.

“You can tell I’ve been to marriage counseling,” he quipped in a Friday interview in his office as he discussed the left’s point of view.

“The chairman of the committee is someone who can amalgamate different points of view into a single position which can be acceptable to everybody,” he added later.

The proposals have received a chilly response from at least one major union, so far.

“We appreciate Chair Cassidy’s interest in dialogue on labor reform, but instead of introducing legislative packages that will not receive bipartisan support, Chair Cassidy should schedule a mark-up on a serious bill like the Faster Labor Contracts Act,” Kara Deniz, a spokesperson for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said in a statement.

The Teamsters-backed, bipartisan Faster Labor Contracts Act would mandate initial collective bargaining agreements via binding arbitration if parties can’t come to an agreement in 120 days, among other provisions.

Proposed Labor Reforms

Cassidy’s package includes the NLRB Stability Act, which would require the board to be bound to court precedent, ending partisan flip-flopping and limiting its autonomy.

It also features the Workers RESULTS Act, which would require secret ballot elections, eliminating card-check elections. The measure also would require two-thirds of workplace support to hold an election, compared to the current 30%.

Union decertification campaigns under the bill wouldn’t be allowed until after a first labor contract is reached. Currently, decertification campaigns can start a year after a union victory. The bill would remove the incentive for employers to stall negotiations, Cassidy said.

Additionally, the decertification window would expand from 30 to 90 days once every two years.

Another piece of legislation, the Fairness in Filing Act, would require parties bringing unfair labor practice charges to present evidence of wrongdoing at the outset, a change aimed at discouraging baseless claims.

Meanwhile, the Union Members’ Right to Know Act would require unions to inform members of political spending, and workers would have to opt-in to non-representational spending.